Now, Don't Jinx Me! Finally, A Red Update for you all. . .

In April of 2012, I get a call from my Mother. "I need you to come help me with your Father."

They had been trying to live independently in their home in Georgetown; getting on up in years, not taking the best of care of themselves. . . and lots more that my brother and I found out in the months to come had been going on behind the scenes there.

My Dad had a strangled hernia and had to have surgery asap. Not optimal shape for it, but no choice. Into the hospital, anesthesia leaves him in a coma for a time. . .and when he comes out he is. . . kind of dim. Not the same vigorous, sharp person that he had been, that I knew. Onset senile dementia is the diagnosis. . .and I find that my Mother has been having to deal with this for quite some time before we become aware of it. She was still sharp, still balancing her checkbook, still doing crosswords, Suduko, etc. . .but he was confused. Apparently been that way and they had kept it to themselves.

Short story, he has wound problems, stays in the hospital and in therapy for a number of months. We decide to move them into the house with my brother in Waco, empty their home, sell their house, etc. Lots of work, lots of travel lots of lots of.

And then out of the blue, my mother goes to sleep one night in June and never wakes up.

I won't go into all the stress and strain of the funeral and the following months. Suffice to say that my Dad is a difficult addition to my brother's family with his medical and memory problems. Not pretty, not easy for anyone.

2012 was not a good year. 2013 either. In addition to all the personal fun, my company gets sold to a competitor- with all the upheaval attendant to that.

And then my father was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer. He lasted 9 months of 2014.

I was holding his hand along with my sister when he passed.